锘� Course specification for JRN1010

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Course specification
The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at .
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JRN1010 News Literacy

Semester 1, 2020 Online
Short Description: News Literacy
Units : 1
Faculty or Section : Faculty of Business, Education, Law and Arts
School or Department : School of Humanities & Communication
Student contribution band : Band 1
ASCED code : 100703 - Journalism
Grading basis : Graded

Staffing

Examiner:

Other requisites

Students will require access to e-mail and must have internet access to UConnect for this course.

Rationale

At a time when the digital revolution is spawning an unprecedented flood of information and disinformation each day, we need to be able to judge the credibility and reliability of news reports, and we need to understand why that matters.

Synopsis

This course is designed to teach students how to become more discriminating news producers and/or consumers. The course will seek to help students recognise reliable information and teach them how to apply their critical-thinking skills so they can act on such information. As part of their instruction, students also will learn how the journalistic process works and how professional journalists make decisions.

Objectives

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. identify and describe the concept of news literacy and why it matters;
  2. critically evaluate information to separate news from propaganda and opinion, and identify bias and fairness, assertion and verification, and evidence, inference and influence in news reports;
  3. effectively deconstruct written and visual texts, and communicate their judgment of the journalistic process and how journalists make decisions;
  4. exercise judgment to evaluate the ethical standards in journalistic processes and decisions;
  5. critically and creatively apply knowledge and skills to appraise and analyse various forms of information, including news.

Topics

Description Weighting(%)
1. News literacy: the credibility and reliability of news reports 15.00
2. The power of information: the function of news 10.00
3. Key values in the journalism neighbourhood 20.00
4. The role of the press: "watchdog" or "lapdog" 5.00
5. News drivers and the news process 10.00
6. News and opinion: what's the difference? 10.00
7. Deconstructing the news story 25.00
8. News consumers in the digital age 5.00

Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed

ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=01&subject1=JRN1010)

Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)

There is no set textbook for this course. Students will be required to access a series of selected readings, available online via URL listings on the course 精东传媒app Desk, to supplement their learning.

Reference materials

Reference materials are materials that, if accessed by students, may improve their knowledge and understanding of the material in the course and enrich their learning experience.
Other readings for this course will be drawn from the various news media and academic sources, with access via URL listings (for online reading).

Student workload expectations

Activity Hours
Directed 精东传媒app 39.00
Independent 精东传媒app 126.00

Assessment details

Description Marks out of Wtg (%) Due Date Notes
ASSESSMENT 1 100 10 24 Mar 2020 (see note 1)
ASSESSMENT 2 100 35 22 Apr 2020 (see note 2)
ASSESSMENT 3 100 15 19 May 2020 (see note 3)
ONLINE EXAM 100 40 End S1 (see note 4)

Notes
  1. This assignment must be completed and submitted online. Students must complete and submit all items of assessment in order to be considered for a passing grade in this course. The use of another person's work as the student's own, without appropriate acknowledgment and according to USQ's academic conventions, is plagiarism. Where such a breach of ethical conduct occurs, the assignment may receive a mark of zero.
  2. This assignment must be submitted via Moodle. Students must complete and submit all items of assessment in order to be considered for a passing grade in this course. The use of another person's work as the student's own, without appropriate acknowledgment and according to USQ's academic conventions, is plagiarism. Where such a breach of ethical conduct occurs, the assignment may receive a mark of zero.
  3. This assignment must be completed and submitted online. Students must complete and submit all items of assessment in order to be considered for a passing grade in this course. The use of another person's work as the student's own, without appropriate acknowledgment and according to USQ's academic conventions, is plagiarism. Where such a breach of ethical conduct occurs, the assignment may receive a mark of zero.
  4. This will be an online exam. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their course examiner via 精东传媒appDesk. The examination date will be available via UConnect when the Alternate Assessment Schedule has been released.

Important assessment information

  1. Attendance requirements:
    Students must attend and complete the requirements of the Workplace Health and Safety training program for this course where required.

    External and Online:
    There are no attendance requirements for this course. However, it is the students' responsibility to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration.

  2. Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks.

  3. Penalties for late submission of required work:
    Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4)

  4. Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.

  5. Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
    The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the aggregate of the weighted marks obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course.

  6. Examination information:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: An Open Examination is one in which candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    Candidates are allowed to bring only writing and drawing instruments into the Closed examination.

  7. Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
    Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S1 2020 are: The details regarding deferred/supplementary examinations will be communicated at a later date

    Requirements after S1 2020:
    Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period.

  8. 精东传媒app Student Policies:
    Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene 精东传媒app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .

Other requirements

  1. Students can expect that questions in assessment items in this course may draw upon knowledge and skills that they can reasonably be expected to have acquired before enrolling in the course. This includes knowledge contained in pre-requisite courses and appropriate communication, information literacy, analytical, critical thinking, problem solving or numeracy skills. Students who do not possess such knowledge and skills should not expect to achieve the same grades as those students who do possess them.

  2. The journalism course maintains high standards of spelling, grammar and punctuation. Faults in any of these could render an assignment unacceptable.

Date printed 19 June 2020